


Peculiar Things Done by Heart

by GreatBigSeaofWords



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Betrayal, F/M, Fluff, Future, Sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-07-12 09:52:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7097668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreatBigSeaofWords/pseuds/GreatBigSeaofWords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are many peculiar things done by heart. Saying "I love you" when you don't actually mean it merely because it's become a habit,  thinking back on things you wish you could erase, and doing things to stand out even though your crush has long since passed. My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng and this is the story of those peculiarities coming to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Miracles Don't Exist

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mari](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mari/gifts), [Ma Princesse Sophi](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Ma+Princesse+Sophi).



> Basically this is after a huge accident and after a long break Marinette has returned to Paris. 
> 
> Enjoy~
> 
> (PS-sorry about any mistakes, I'm in the process of editing)

Marinette sat on the balcony of her old home, gazing up at the sky as she felt the world around her. Soft whispers of a breeze rippled her dark hair, cars honked loudly in the distance, and she could hear the garbled sounds of her parents watching a movie inside. Everything was right. Or that's what she tried to make herself believe.

Nothing was actually right.

She had just returned to her home in Paris after two years of traveling around Europe exploring the world of fashion and design, and she was glad to be home. 

Throughout her time abroad she had found herself feeling like something was missing in her life. Most times she could ignore it and go on with life, but when she was alone in her room the feeling would just crash down on her. It was overwhelming, all consuming, and empty. The feeling had no memory tied to it, no person or place. It was just there, digging a hole deeper and deeper in the pit of her stomach whenever she ran out of distractions.

When her work started becoming affected by this feeling she realized that she should probably go back home and see if going back would help her figure out what she felt as if she was missing. Now that she was back home it was relieving to find that the feeling had lessened and she was allowed more peace in times when she was alone. However, although that feeling of missing something she couldn't remember had dissipated, she still missed a lot of things.

She missed the way she could just sit here on the balcony for hours, fantasizing about her future and who and what would be in it. Turns out the future has very little glamour and everything she had expected was not how it came to be. When she was in school she had imagined her future to be her owning her parents bakery, designing clothes, and living with a certain blonde that used to take up most of her days thoughts. 

She chuckled ruefully upon remembering her old crush, Adrien Agreste.

Marinette and Adrien had lost all contact when Marinette moved out of town to start work for a big fashion designer. To say she missed him a lot would be a bit of a leap. But she did wish things had been easier between them. She had just started to talk easier around him when she got in her accident and lost a lot of memories that she still had yet to recover.

She knew that there was a big part of her life that she was forgetting, but she didn't know what. Occasionally she would get flashes of red and black in her sleep, and would experience weird dreams that felt so real and would leave her waking up in a bit of a daze.

She stood and slowly walked over to the railing, resting her weight against it with her legs crossed and her hair blowing in the breeze. Her hair was well past her shoulders now and she hated it. It got in the way and got heavy at times. She pulled her dark locks around and gazed at the moon light highlighted amongst the black. 

A sigh escaped her fair lips as he closed her eyes and slumped a little. She was exhausted. Emotionally and physically. Being an adult was taxing enough but dealing with dreams that caused her to wake frequently throughout the night and memories that struggled so hard to resurface made it all that much harder. Again she found herself wishing she could go back to when things were a little simpler.

She snorted and shook her head. "Miracles like that don't exist."

"I beg to differ, princess."


	2. Loud Sobs and Incoherent Words

Chat Noir had heard that a certain former heroine had returned to Paris and he couldn't help the way his heart leapt at the news. He had been doing his nightly patrol but all that was thrown out the window when his heart took the reigns and he leapt over the roofs of Paris in pursuit of a lingering dream that had taken refuge back in the Dupain-Cheng household. He had developed a bad habit of letting his emotions rule him and as a result he was on Neighborhawk watch which basically means that Hawkmoth had his eyes on him. He was a very passionate cat after all, it wouldn't take much to tip him off the edge. Once he did Hawkmoth could finally get his ring and complete the godly duo of Miraculouses.

Chat knew that now that Hawkmoth had acquired the ladybug Miraculous he had to be ten times more careful and had taken up extra precautions over the time that the former ladybug holder had been gone. Now, he could hopefully recruit her to help him. He figured it would be easy. Marinette was passionate and selfless, and probably just needed an extensive pep-talk to get back on her feet.

He perched on the roof across from the bakery and his eyes widened when he saw Marinette leaning up against the balcony. The moon washed over her and her matured features seemed to shine. His heart swelled with affection. She was just as beautiful as he remembered, and had matured in a way that only made her all the more lovely. However he was a little alarmed by the troubled expression her face was twisted into. 

"I wonder what's on her mind." He thought out loud, scrunching his nose.

He slunk off the roof and darted across the street unbeknown to the girl on the roof. He clawed up the back of her house and hid just below the ledge, his ears flicking as he struggled to make out whether or not she was talking or the noise he heard was just the TV her parents were perched comfortably in front of. He assumed they were unaware of Marinette's funk. 

He heard her speak to herself and he looked up. She had that look on her face. The look you make when you reminisce about times that were happy, but you feel sad inside thinking about them. He flattened his ears and his tail twitched as he listened to the mumbles of words jumbling past the lips he had been pining after for so long.

"Miracles like that don't exist." He heard her say to herself bitterly and he crept up on to the roof.

He had really no idea what she meant but his smart-ass mouth ran away with him, "Oh I beg to differ princess."

Her skirt flared as she spun around with a gasp, her fingers immediately unwinding from her thick locks that seemed to be causing anxiety. She gave him a once over. She studied him with scrutiny before she sighed heavily, shaking her head "I'd like to be alone."

"But I thought you liked my company?" He fussed and trudged over, his flopped ears and loosely waving arms on display for all to get a sense of his dramatics. "You used to."

She gave him a puzzled look, her eyes squinted and her nose scrunched as she grimaced. "I'm sorry. I have no recollection of you."

Her hand flashed up to rub her temple quickly before she caught how he stared and she paused, letting her hand fall back to her side. He studied her hands and arms and noticed that her hands seemed rougher and less fragile. They still looked porcelain and gentle and dainty, but there was a new roughness he had never recognized before.

"Marinette...I am afraid I do not understand...?"

"I suppose that's right that you are having trouble." She relented and sighed. "I just...it seems as though you and I have history, but I can't remember. Your face is foggy, I cannot tell if I remember it or not though, or its just my brain getting ahead of itself." 

He listened to her stumble a little over her words and his frown deepened and his expression darkened before he spoke softly, "You mean to tell me that you have no idea who I am?"

She shook her head. "A silly kitty that must have me confused with somebody else. I am sorry...Chat? Is that your title? It seems like it should be. The black cat. Chat Noir?"

She seemed to kind of fall into a loop of thinking out loud in her own little world. 

Chat felt his heart sink and he worked his jaw, "You must be right. I am sorry to have bothered you."

Marinette studied him a moment before sinking to the ground, rubbing her face. She looked up at him and jut out her bottom lip a little as she thought. He slowly took a seat beside her and sat patiently with her as she kind of gathered herself. She then just started to cry. Loud sobs and incoherent words soon followed and Chat gently rubbed her back, touching his forehead to her ear as he let her cry. He knew she needed it.

They say like that for a while until eventually the sobbing stopped and Chat looked down to find that Marinette was pretty much passed out. He sighed and gathered her up in his arms, careful of all objects around neck and in her pockets. He then stood and swung into her bedroom through the window, his movement at easy and smooth as if he'd done this so many times before. 

He padded over to her bed and tucked her in, bringing the thick comforter up to her chin and making sure that she was completely bundled up. He didn't want the chill to wake her from this much needed slumber. 

His gaze wandered the room. Everything looked so different. More mature and less like the room of a teenager completely overwhelmed by life. He noticed a little string hanging and he pulled it carefully, jumping back in surprise when a screen like surface rolled down. He saw the stained smudges, left over from something that had been hurriedly erased and covered.

He wanted to look more but he quickly caught himself. If he did look around more, that would be snooping. Snooping in the house of somebody who was practically a stranger now.

Chat sighed at that saddening thought and rolled the surface back up into its slot, and made his exit out her window. He glanced back in once and closed the window, whispering "Goodnight Marinette." before leaping away across the roofs of his beloved Paris.

There was a lot in store for this sleeping city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, dear readers. This is not my best. I'm tired and in need of sleep but I wanted to get this part published. Let me know if you catch any grammar, spelling, or punctuation errors. Or any mistakes involving Marinette's room and stuff.


	3. Foot Traffic

The next morning, Paris was alive with the sound of the usual musicians on street corners and the animated chatter of the foot traffic on the streets. The shops were full and as it was most weekends, Marinette's family bakery was quite popular. It wasn't like some places with a line down the block, but there wasn't more than a five minute gap between new customers. 

Tom and Sabine had always attracted business with their shiny, welcoming personalities and beautifully decorated pastries and cakes. Tom was the joker who was completely unafraid to display quick wit while Sabine was more the mom type, always making sure everybody was happy and occasionally dropped in those extra little treats for their regulars. As of now they were busy baking and serving, all while making pleasant conversation with each of their customers. 

Marinette didn't make her appearance until around 11:00 in full attire fit for a day of doing all the things. She had her long hair pulled up into a messy hair stuck in place with a soft pink rose clip, though she left one strand hang loose just in front of her ear. It was what she called her contemplation strand. Fit for it's name, she would twirl it with her finger whenever in deep thought. She didn't know why she did it, but it was almost soothing in a way so she just left it. She adjusted the bust of her red strapless dress that had the cutest white polkadots on it. It went perfectly with her dark jean shorts and thin white sandals that had little bows on top. Her outfit was topped off by a white beaded bracelet, minimal eyeliner, and soft pink lipstick. As usual, her outfit looked perfectly planned despite her having just thrown in together after realizing she had woken up way later than she intended.

The young woman glided past her mom, stealing a quick kiss to the cheek, and entered the bustling world of Paris. Though she had grown up there she couldn't help looking around in wonder, taking in everything and acknowledging the things that were the same and the things that were totally different. This nostalgia felt way better than the nostalgia from the night before. She smiled and took in a deep breath, closing her eyes briefly just to let everything sink in. However, that clumsy lack of judgement sent her walking right into somebody. Her eyes snapped open and she looked up quickly, an apology slipping from her almost two steps ahead of her brain.

"Oh my goodness! Im so sorry I wasn't paying attention. That was fault my." Even as an adult she still scrambled her words occasionally. Internal face palm on her part. 

The owner of the chest she had so gracefully bumped into was a weary looking young man with slicked back golden blonde hair and the most stunning green eyes she had ever seen. He looked so familiar. She did a mental face check with everybody she knew until...Her breathing hitched as it clicked and she backpedaled quicker than she thought she could manage. 

"A-Adrien!" She stuttered, fidgeting under the stare he had fixed on her.

His gaze eventually did soften when realization broke through his weariness and his lips twitched with the hint of a smile. 

"Hello, Marinette."

Man his voice sounded so weighed down. Weighed down by...everything. Yet he still had that cute way of saying her name that always sounded a little different to the way everybody else said it. She blushed at the thought of the possibility that he didn't say it differently at all, that she just wanted him to as a result of her mildly lingering infatuation. Marinette analyzed him completely, noticing how even the shoulders he pretended to be holding up were slumped every so slightly and his usually perfectly styled hair appeared to have gone through a rough preparation for the day. She hardly noticed him start to shift from foot to foot slightly until he spoke again.

"Well I have a busy day today. I am sorry I cannot talk more." He grimaced.

She waved her hands and shook her head quick, gasping "No! No! It's perfectly fine! I understand how that is. Have a good day Adrien."

"Goodbye, Marinette." He nodded before striding past her, that usual air of complete confidence returning.

She sighed and fixed her hair before continuing in the opposite direction. She took a few steps and couldn't help herself; she glanced back at him. He was looking off to the side in that way people did when they've just barely evaded being caught looking at you. His gaze however did redirect to her and she squeaked, looking away quickly and quickening her pace again. To her embarrassment, she could've sworn she heard a small chuckle.

For the rest of the day, no matter what she did, she just kept thinking back on that interaction. It had felt odd to her, unfamiliar. Then again it had been some time since they had last seen each other, there was bound to be a sense of awkwardness from both parties. At this point they hardly knew each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter may be a little clunky. It's 4 in the morning but I really wanted to get this published. :P


End file.
